Scan barcode
pepperpentangle's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
gabmc's review against another edition
4.0
This is the first book in a new series by Ann Cleeves, who also writes the 'Vera' and 'Shetland' books. Detective Matthew Venn and his team are called to a dead body in a beautiful location on a beach quite near where Matthew lives. Matthew has just been at the funeral of his estranged father. He was brought up in a religious sect known as "The Brethren" but could no longer be a member when he came out to his parents. His husband, Jonathon, manages The Woodyard - a community that supports the arts, people with disabilities and learning about the local area. The dead man, Simon Walden, volunteered in the kitchen at The Woodyard. As Matthew investigates Simon's murder, a woman, Christine, who goes to the day centre at The Woodyard disappears, possibly kidnapped. There are several powerful men on the Board of Trustees of The Woodyard who seem to be closing ranks. I really enjoyed getting to know these new characters and new locations.
moiram's review against another edition
4.0
I have been a fan of both Vera and Shetland on tv for several years, but this is only the second Ann Cleeves book I have read. Generally, I prefer reading the books before seeing a tv series, so with this being the first in a new series, it was a great chance to read it before they turn it into a tv series. I stayed up way too late the last two nights reading this - I had to know how it would turn out!
kdonohoe13's review against another edition
1.0
This book was painfully slow. I barely got through it.
nahyee's review
2.0
Publisher's description: In North Devon, where two rivers converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his estranged father’s funeral takes place. On the day Matthew left the strict evangelical community he grew up in, he lost his family too.
Now, as he turns and walks away again, he receives a call from one of his team. A body has been found on the beach nearby: a man with a tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death.
The case calls Matthew back to the people and places of his past, as deadly secrets hidden at their hearts are revealed, and his new life is forced into a collision course with the world he thought he’d left behind.
**************
"The Long Call" by Ann Cleeves is a drawn out murder mystery that took me altogether too long to read. The book spans only about a week in time, but it felt like so much longer. I am definitely in the minority on this one, but I really wouldn't recommend this unless you're already a fan of this author.
I struggled with a number of things in this book.
The chapters, the pace, and the writing style all felt very disjointed to me. Nothing flowed together from one chapter to the next. On top of that, in trying to create backstories for characters, most authors will take a present-day situation and have them remember something from their past that is at least a little bit related to what's happening now. I felt like everything we learned about the characters' pasts was just filler and didn't have any relevance to the story. There was an entire chapter that I highlighted and noted that I just didn't see the relevance. A whole chapter!
The key characters all seemed to have really low self-esteem. The Senior Officer, Matthew Venn, constantly second guesses himself, and I suspect we are supposed to assume this relates to his estrangement from his family. He was raised in a strict Christian (almost cult-like) home, where his parents worshiped with "the Brethren." When Matthew came out as gay and married a man, his parents basically disowned him. I don't have any issues with gay characters, but the constant references from others to Matthew's "partner" and their hesitation to call him Matthew's husband were just really distracting. And it was like everyone had to bring it up -- the people they interviewed during the investigation, Matthew's co-workers. I get it. "The Brethren" didn't approve, but it was everyone. This is a murder mystery, not a romance novel. It would be just as distracting if it were a heterosexual couple.
More on the self-esteem issues, Matthew is basically the boss with only one other person above him. It should be safe to assume that he would be good at his job, confident in his abilities. He may be good at his job, but he's afraid that his subordinates think he's just sitting in his office taking phone calls. Even personally he has confidence issues. At one point, Matthew says to his husband, "Don't be too late," and we're told that "this was the closest Matthew could ever get to being demanding, and even that felt like a risk." Seriously?!?! This man is supposed to be leading a murder investigation, and he feels it's a risk to tell someone not to be too late? And he considers that demanding?
Matthew's second in command, Jen Rafferty, is a single mom of two teenage kids. She is always worried that she's going to get in trouble for wanting to get any time at home with her kids, and she has the guilt of not spending enough time with them. I think every working mother feels that tug of war, but every time we are focused on Jen's activities, there's something related to this topic. At the same time, if she comes to work looking tired, Matthew wonders to himself if she was out drinking the night before. So let's think this through...a woman comes to work looking tired, so she MUST have been out drinking?? And do these people know nothing about the personal lives of the people they work with day in and day out? Wouldn't Matthew know that she has two kids at home? I mean, she certainly referenced it to him at one point. I just find this very hard to believe.
The last issue I'll talk about was the volume of characters for this story. There were so many, and there really didn't need to be. It felt to me like the author created this huge cast of characters to distract the reader from figuring out what really happened. Honestly, by the time I got to the end, I really didn't care anymore. I just wanted to finish.
As I said, I'm giving this 2 stars (instead of 1) because the murder mystery itself was a decent premise. Without all the distractions outlined above, I probably could have enjoyed it.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for a free advance copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is scheduled to be released on September 3, 2019.
Now, as he turns and walks away again, he receives a call from one of his team. A body has been found on the beach nearby: a man with a tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death.
The case calls Matthew back to the people and places of his past, as deadly secrets hidden at their hearts are revealed, and his new life is forced into a collision course with the world he thought he’d left behind.
**************
"The Long Call" by Ann Cleeves is a drawn out murder mystery that took me altogether too long to read. The book spans only about a week in time, but it felt like so much longer. I am definitely in the minority on this one, but I really wouldn't recommend this unless you're already a fan of this author.
I struggled with a number of things in this book.
The chapters, the pace, and the writing style all felt very disjointed to me. Nothing flowed together from one chapter to the next. On top of that, in trying to create backstories for characters, most authors will take a present-day situation and have them remember something from their past that is at least a little bit related to what's happening now. I felt like everything we learned about the characters' pasts was just filler and didn't have any relevance to the story. There was an entire chapter that I highlighted and noted that I just didn't see the relevance. A whole chapter!
The key characters all seemed to have really low self-esteem. The Senior Officer, Matthew Venn, constantly second guesses himself, and I suspect we are supposed to assume this relates to his estrangement from his family. He was raised in a strict Christian (almost cult-like) home, where his parents worshiped with "the Brethren." When Matthew came out as gay and married a man, his parents basically disowned him. I don't have any issues with gay characters, but the constant references from others to Matthew's "partner" and their hesitation to call him Matthew's husband were just really distracting. And it was like everyone had to bring it up -- the people they interviewed during the investigation, Matthew's co-workers. I get it. "The Brethren" didn't approve, but it was everyone. This is a murder mystery, not a romance novel. It would be just as distracting if it were a heterosexual couple.
More on the self-esteem issues, Matthew is basically the boss with only one other person above him. It should be safe to assume that he would be good at his job, confident in his abilities. He may be good at his job, but he's afraid that his subordinates think he's just sitting in his office taking phone calls. Even personally he has confidence issues. At one point, Matthew says to his husband, "Don't be too late," and we're told that "this was the closest Matthew could ever get to being demanding, and even that felt like a risk." Seriously?!?! This man is supposed to be leading a murder investigation, and he feels it's a risk to tell someone not to be too late? And he considers that demanding?
Matthew's second in command, Jen Rafferty, is a single mom of two teenage kids. She is always worried that she's going to get in trouble for wanting to get any time at home with her kids, and she has the guilt of not spending enough time with them. I think every working mother feels that tug of war, but every time we are focused on Jen's activities, there's something related to this topic. At the same time, if she comes to work looking tired, Matthew wonders to himself if she was out drinking the night before. So let's think this through...a woman comes to work looking tired, so she MUST have been out drinking?? And do these people know nothing about the personal lives of the people they work with day in and day out? Wouldn't Matthew know that she has two kids at home? I mean, she certainly referenced it to him at one point. I just find this very hard to believe.
The last issue I'll talk about was the volume of characters for this story. There were so many, and there really didn't need to be. It felt to me like the author created this huge cast of characters to distract the reader from figuring out what really happened. Honestly, by the time I got to the end, I really didn't care anymore. I just wanted to finish.
As I said, I'm giving this 2 stars (instead of 1) because the murder mystery itself was a decent premise. Without all the distractions outlined above, I probably could have enjoyed it.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for a free advance copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is scheduled to be released on September 3, 2019.
alibrarymouse's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I’m absolutely hooked on this series already. Matthew Venn is such a relatable detective, and I, honestly, want to wrap him in a blanket and tell him everything is going to be okay.
The story starts as if you know the characters, which can be a little annoying at times because we truly don’t. However, they all may have been mentioned in other series that I haven’t read yet. Aside from that benefit of the doubt, we do see natural building happening on character development and story progression. In this, I do like learning about the characters while other storylines progress.
The mystery was twisty and engaging without making the victim out to be a saint, just someone trying to do better. And the emotional tie at the very end that explained everything? Chef’s kiss. This was a stunning read, and I definitely recommend if you love mysteries or Cleeves’ other books.
The story starts as if you know the characters, which can be a little annoying at times because we truly don’t. However, they all may have been mentioned in other series that I haven’t read yet. Aside from that benefit of the doubt, we do see natural building happening on character development and story progression. In this, I do like learning about the characters while other storylines progress.
The mystery was twisty and engaging without making the victim out to be a saint, just someone trying to do better. And the emotional tie at the very end that explained everything? Chef’s kiss. This was a stunning read, and I definitely recommend if you love mysteries or Cleeves’ other books.
mcearl12's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this, my first Ann Cleeves read. How lucky am I to have all the other books by this author to read, now!
vandermeer's review against another edition
1.0
Recht vorhersehbar und langweilig. Zudem geschrieben, wie von einem Anfänger... sich wiederholende Phrasen und Ausdrücke, seltsame und unglaubwürdige Dialoge. Alles wirkt sehr klischeehaft, von der Beziehung des Protagonisten zu seinem Mann, bis hin zur Charakterisierung der Nebenfiguren. Es gibt den Cougar, die Künstlerin, die Über-Frommen, den Hetero-Mansplainer, das unterwürfige Eheweibchen und das schwule Paar. Die interessanteste Figur ist leider tot. DNF 70%
pamelita3006's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
pjgal22's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is my 2nd Cleeves mystery, the first being The Crow Trap, for which I listened to the audiobook. The pace of both books is rather slow, which makes them perfect for listening - easier to keep the thread of the story if I'm momentarily distracted. For reading before bed, though, I found this one almost too slow. Many nights I struggled to stay awake as there wasn't enough action to keep me alert. I do like the characters and I loved the setting, but I think I may stick to audio of her works from now on.